A brush of this type is disclosed in Document WO-A-97/16995. In this document, the toothbrush includes, on each of the longitudinal edges of the head, massaging filaments made from thermoplastic elastomer material which have the same height as that of the brushing filaments made from non-elastomeric plastic.
With this arrangement, it has been noticed that the action of massaging the gums could be insufficient, particularly when the elastomeric filaments are relatively flexible, either owing to the material from which they are made or owing to their diameter. Thus, when the filaments made from elastomer material flex, the filaments made from non-elastomer material are immediately in contact with the gum. In point of fact, as they are more rigid, these non-elastomeric filaments risk damaging the gum.